Multipurpose Minister Nikola Selakovic he joined the Serbian Radical Party after the October 5th changes, but not because he was a big fan of Seselj's party, but because in 2001 his father was removed from the position of director of the "Belgrade" footwear industry. He estimated, he says, that getting involved in the radicals was the best way to take revenge on the DOS coalition, better than getting involved in the then collapsed SPS, in which he unfortunately had a comfortable stay for many years.
He did not lack ultra-nationalism either, many such flowers bloomed and are blooming in Serbia - he is one of those patriotic fanatics who were bred by the Belgrade Faculty of Law and who believe that the rule of law is not compatible with Serbia and the Serbian state. As if it is a project of this faculty, to educate individuals who will destroy legal science. Nothing really unusual - in order to commit serious financial fraud, it is preferable to be an economist, or at least to have economic experts in your team.
Even though he managed the position of assistant at the Faculty of Law, it seems that Selaković is not exactly the best offshoot of the project. Not because he didn't get his PhD even a decade and a half after he became a PhD student - he probably had better things to do in the party - but primarily because the crime he is accused of in the case is "General Staff"performed as the last prankster, as someone who has never even passed the Faculty of Law. Things are so clear - if there is a valid court procedure, the accusations will be easily proven and judged. This is probably one of the reasons why he and his boss "went wild" so much, since someone judged that the laws apply to progressive officials as well, not only to their opponents!
Selaković is a super loyalist, there is no doubt about that. He joined Vučić right after the latter founded the Serbian Progressive Party with his political father, whom he later politically liquidated, Tom Nikolić. He is always on the side of whoever has the power. He even agreed to moderate his urges, so, like many other progressives, he behaved like a radical on methadone for years. When he wasn't taking therapy, he stole "Ustasha" water "jana" from the students and threw it in the trash can. But, despite that, Vučić seems not sure that Selaković will not agree to be a protected witness in order to protect himself.
SWITCHED FROM METHADONE TO STEROIDS
As time went on, Selaković, like other progressives, got off methadone. The urges were let out to pasture, then the progressives changed the therapy and became - radicals on steroids. There are countless indicators for this, books will be written about examples of their passionate dishonor, and an important chapter will be Vučić's and Selaković's statements in response to the prosecution and court proceedings against the minister and three other defendants in the "General Staff" case.
photo: vladimir sporčić / tanjug...
And on this occasion, Selaković, with the "best student of the Faculty of Law ever", shows himself as someone who did not even pass by any law faculty, not even the one whose establishment was paid for by the flowering of organized crime in some crime. It turns out that Uglješa Mrdić, an unidentified lawyer, is a bigger expert than them.
"The way in which Selaković and Vučić behaved in the 'General Staff' procedure, one would expect from some simple, uneducated and arrogant person, who never opened the door of the Faculty of Law. They did not respond with legal arguments for a single moment. They did not even try to refute the accusations with reasonable allegations, let's say that it is a misinterpretation of the facts. This shows how much uncontrolled anger prevails in them that someone dared to touch their feeling that they are above the law. Yes in Serbia, only the law of the stronger applies", lawyer Božo Prelevic tells us.
MERITS
There was a lot of it in the media, but let's run through the genealogy of the "General Staff" case. It seems that long ago Vučić and his team had their eyes on the General Staff complex, which is located in the very center of Belgrade and is worth a mountain of money. This complex, built in the second half of the fifties and the beginning of the sixties, had, however, one "flaw": it was a protected cultural property, which had symbolic weight not only because of its architectural value, but also became a symbol of the NATO intervention in 1999.
The fact that it is a protected cultural property does not mean anything to progressives in principle. They care about culture. They tore off as many protections, demolished and built, and at the same time they always fit in well. And no one makes a sound, except for a couple of crazy people.
Progressive foreign policy is based on a famous line from the movie Oktoberfest: - "If grandma is crying, give her a biscuit"! The success of banal politics is based on simplicity: If you count on human greed and stupidity, you always win! And so Vučić thought that he would endear himself to Donald Trump, with whom he seems to have many misunderstandings (both those we know and those we don't know and those we are just discovering), if he gave this complex to his son-in-law to build a hotel-business-residential complex there. In order to nullify the fact that, as patriots, they are giving the complex to the "evil Americans", they thought that somewhere there would be something that would be a museum dedicated to the victims of the war with NATO, in which Serbia officially won.
But things did not go exactly as they seemed to go. In Serbia, after the fall of the Novi Sad canopy, the longest civil rebellion in the history of these areas followed, and things changed. Significant resistance appeared in the institutions, so something that used to go smoothly has now become a problem.
In May 2025, the Government of Serbia makes a decision to remove the status of protected cultural property for that complex in order to allow the General Staff to be quickly demolished. Progressive entrepreneurs have already fought among themselves over who will get this job, and then a cold shower followed. It turned out that the decision was made on the basis of falsified documents, and to make matters worse - Goran Vasić, the then acting director of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments, admitted to the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime that the crime was committed because the employees of the Institute opposed the order received from above, i.e. lawlessness.
VUCIC IS NOT SURRENDERING
However, Vučić did not surrender. The Assembly adopted the lex specialis, which approves the accelerated demolition of the General Staff, removal of protection and repurposing of the space. Of course, no one consulted the profession, because the profession is not aware of higher national interests that are identified with the survival of Vučić in power. Macron will get money for "bursts", Trump will get the General Staff and so on - staying in power means internal dictatorship and external support to do whatever the president wants.
And then two more shots follow. The prosecution finds, as far as we know, very relevant evidence against Minister Selaković, and he is at the top of the list of suspects, later accused. Then Kushner abandoned the project, saying that "significant projects should unite, not divide", alluding to the court proceedings, but also to the negative reaction of the citizens of Belgrade and Serbia. He says he respects the feelings of citizens. Rather, it will be that Trump is not very happy that the gift he is receiving has a serious flaw, which has started to cause problems for him inside the US as well.
"Vučić did not even think that this project should be implemented discreetly, but he immediately announced it to all bells and whistles. You don't need to be particularly smart to understand that the demolition of a cultural monument and its gift to a third party is ordinary corruption. This can also be seen from America," says Prelevic.
But the matter does not end there. The heads of the Republic Institute for the Protection of Culture confirmed that the removal of protection from the General Staff, i.e. that they were breaking the law, was requested by Vučić himself. So everything that could go wrong - did.
photo: Rade Prelić / TanjugJUDGE ME INSTEAD OF THE MINISTER: N. Selakovć and A. Vučić
PROGRESSIVE REBELLION
When everything is put together, the angry reaction of the progressives and their media is not at all surprising. Both TOK and the Institute came under attack from radical hysteria. What did we listen to? Selaković claims that TOK is an "autoimmune disease", "a blockade criminal gang that has usurped part of the state and the state system". This prosecutor's office is participating in a "coup d'état" and works on the orders of the "center of power" whose goal is to overthrow the government and the president of Serbia. He is looking forward to the court process (the main trial is scheduled for February 4) because it will "expose the blockaders".
Vučić was not sophisticated either. For a long time, he has been calling many in the prosecution and judiciary "corrupt mafia" who work for "blockaders". The prosecutors are "destroying Serbia from the inside" and with their actions contribute to the political goals of those who, as they claim, want to "destabilize the state". He announced that he will pardon all those who will be accused in this process, just as he pardoned the thugs who beat a female student in Novi Sad. The Republic Institute is also the target of attacks by the minister and Vučić.
Uglješa Mrdić, a progressive Mr. Wulf (what kind of party, what kind of Wulf), who proposed amendments to the set of judicial laws to the parliament, whose goal is to completely decapitate and disband TOK, was also included in the reckoning. And at the same cost to turn the entire judiciary into a progressive horse that will be saddled as needed. Selaković, by the way, likes horse riding, he boasted that he practiced this sport.
There is another Mrdić collateral benefit, which has not been much discussed in public. It is proposed that the Prosecutor's Office for High-Tech Crime be placed under the control of Chief Prosecutor Nenad Stefanović, more precisely under the control of the Belgrade Higher Public Prosecutor's Office. In this way, social networks, that is, information and criticism of the government on the Internet, will be tamed. There will be a lot of arrests, there are no doubts, and possibly banning of content in imitation of Erdogan's Turkey.
IS SELAKOVIĆ MORE IMPORTANT THAN VESIĆ?
It seems that this case caused a stronger reaction from the top of the state than the proceedings that were or are being conducted against ministers Vesić and Momirović due to the fall of the Novi Sad canopy. The government has decided to go all or nothing, and even, if necessary, directly enter into conflict with European institutions, which were not consulted at all regarding changes to very important laws. Namely, they do not look favorably on the things that are happening with the prosecution - crime is cross-border, so the Serbian prosecution, under the direct control of organized crime, could also give them a headache. But where does such progressive nervousness come from?
According to Prelević, there are three important aspects of the story. First, the regime did not expect anyone to stand up in defense of the profession, as happened in this case.
"They didn't expect it because the profession, for example, avoided standing up to protect the Bristol Hotel, the Geozavod building, the entire area where Belgrade is being built on the water, but also other parts of the city and buildings that the progressives attacked, took away, demolished... Another thing that annoyed them extremely was that the attempt to bribe the American president failed due to the initiation of the proceedings. Neither Kushner nor Trump needed this scandal, who does not have a good opinion of Vučić anyway. And thirdly, the extremely important thing is that, without Vučić's knowledge, the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime interrogated Goran Vasić and received a confession from him that a criminal offense had been committed. To make matters worse, we also have testimonies that the General Staff was pressured to be deleted from the register of cultural property in Vučić's presence. So, there is evidence, and this can also be seen from Vučić's statements, that he is the 'alpha and omega' of the business move of the demolition of Serbian cultural monuments at the expense of bribing the American president." he says Prelevic.
Prelevic claims that it will not be difficult to prove the indictment before the court. According to him, this case is the key reason for the state to wage a real war against the Prosecutor's Office for organized crime, as well as the criminal police, which, among other things, led to changes in the police. He points out that it is an indictment, not an indictment, as is often said in public. The court should confirm the indictment, but not the indictment. The indictment is used for minor crimes.
"I think that TOK, as absurd as it may seem, made a serious concession to Selaković. In my opinion, he should have been prosecuted for a more serious crime. An indictment should have been filed. And more serious offenses of abuse of official position should have been brought," says Prelevic.
PAJTIC - HYSTERICAL OUTBREAK OF VUČIĆ'S ARROGANCE
Bojan Pajtić, a professor at the Faculty of Law in Novi Sad, says that this case certainly has both political and legal dimensions. Politically, it is reflected in the fact that the regime realized that not only is it not untouchable and invincible, but that even when they are in power at all levels, down to the local community, its most important representatives are very much subject to criminal responsibility.
"They can imagine, that is, they certainly imagine, and because of that they were particularly upset, how it will all look like when they are no longer in power. And when all those judges and prosecutors who oppressed them all these years start doing their job and prosecuting progressive criminals. So, this case in which the minister is tried is a precedent precisely because the regime that thinks there is no end to it - in fact, through the initiation of this procedure, has glimpsed its definitive and inglorious end. don't be afraid", says Pajtić.
According to him, the legal dimension is reflected in the fact that the progressives did everything they could - in accordance with their modest intellectual capabilities and legal knowledge - to stop the proceedings, thinking that it was enough to pass a law that would revoke the General Staff's status as a cultural property so that something would cease to be a criminal offense.
"They did not at all understand that the proceedings are being conducted due to abuse of official position, i.e. due to coercion to falsify official documents. Whether or not the General Staff facility currently has the status of a protected cultural asset or not is irrelevant to their criminal responsibility. This proceeding symbolically represents the end of this government," says Pajtić. Pajtić points out that Vučić's announcement that he will absolve the accused in the process is one of the last "hysterical outbursts of his arrogance".
"During the election year, it might suit Vučić if one of his ministers was on the dock so that he could symbolically say that the progressives are cleaning up their ranks. He is not announcing the abolition because of Selaković and others, but because of himself. He personally ordered the illegal removal of protection from the General Staff and the court proceedings can lead to him as the principal. Why does he want to pardon the accused? If he pardons them, then they will not ask for protected witness status who will testify against him. Practically, by announcing that he will pardon the accused in this case, he announces what no one has ever done - he will absolve himself of criminal responsibility," says Pajtić.
RAJIC - THE MORE IMPORTANT THE SCREW, THE GREATER THE DEFENSE!
Belgrade lawyer Jovan Rajić is not sure that the regime is louder in the defense of Selaković than, say, in the defense of Goran Vesić. He says, he would not be able to make that kind of gradation.
"But the rule certainly applies: the more important the screws in the SNS and the more they know, the more intense their defense is. First of all, because the more they know and the more they can harm the regime. This is how every mafia works, the more important the screw, the greater the damage to the entire structure of the organization if he speaks," says Rajić.
Rajić states that Selaković's angry performance both in the assembly and in public has two reasons.
"Attack is the best defense. So, to specific, very specific accusations, to a very specific indictment, specific allegations and specific events and what is made to look like he did - he responds with blanket attacks on the other side, that is, the prosecution, that it is a gang, that they are thieves, without citing any legal arguments. All of this looks like the defense of a man who knows that he is responsible for what he is accused of, which of course needs to be proven during the proceedings itself," says Rajić.
In addition, according to Rajić, it is obvious that Vučić is carrying out a demonstration of force and intimidation, sending the message that he stands behind his minister, whom he is letting "spew poison".
"When you strip the shell, when you scratch the surface, you see that there is no content in what Selaković is saying, that it is all empty words and insults, that there are no arguments with which he denies what he is accused of - and that is what is most dominant to me in this whole story," says Rajić.
WILL THE PROGRESSIVES SUCCEED IN SUBJECTING THE PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE?
In the end, the key question arises, will the progressives succeed in bringing the prosecution, that is, the judiciary, under their complete control, which would transform Serbia from an authoritarian state into a totalitarian one?
"Serbia's problem is that it does not have a clear political alternative. We can see what happened, when it was only hinted at, how many people in the institutions were encouraged to do their work. We all know that the government is disastrous. And Europe knows that the government in Serbia is disastrous. But they still don't see an alternative. And if it is not built, then the question is how long all this can last. If it lasts long, then I fear that Vučić, with his long-term pressures, harassment, disparagement, break the resistance in the prosecution and the entire judiciary. If a clear alternative is built, and I think it can only be created around students as the biggest motivating force in Serbia, then it could preserve the rule of law, prosecutors, and the media, and stop the further disintegration of the state," says Prelevic.
